Walmart's US Comparable Store Sales Fell In Q3 (WMT)

Earnings came in at $1.14 per share, which was a bit higher than the $1.13 expected.

Revenue climbed 1.6% to $114.9 billion. This was a bit lower than the $116.8 billion expected.

Walmart's comparable U.S. store sales fell 0.3%.

"The retail environment, both in stores and online, remains competitive," said Mike Duke, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores. "Walmart has aggressive plans to help our customers enjoy the holiday season, and there is no doubt that we plan to win for our customers and shareholders throughout the holidays."

The company bought back 23 million shares during the quarter for $1.7 billion.

Management expects to earn $1.50-$1.60 per share in Q4 and $5.01-$5.11 for the full year.

At investor day in October, this Wal-Mart stat stuck with me: 300 or so Wal-Mart U.S. stores were producing negative same-store sales of around 7%.

Check out what Wal-Mart offered today. Not only did it present its financial overview in a new (some misleading way designed to showcase the positive inside of the U.S. business) manner, but it suggests the core of the business (giant retail stores in rural America) continue to struggle.